Record-large class enters medical school

New class to be presented in ceremony Friday night

To address a worsening physician shortage, the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) is proud to announce its incoming class of medical students will be its largest ever. The new “Class of 2014” will be presented this Friday, July 16, 2010, at 6:30 p.m. in a ceremony at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort and Spa’s Tapa Ballrooms II and III.

This year’s entering class is the first to be increased in years, despite cuts in state funding to the medical school. The decision to increase the class size to 64 (from 62) was announced earlier this year. The new class begins its studies next week. (Note: There are four MD classes training at one time at JABSOM, for an annual total of more than 250 medical students.)

Earlier this month, data was presented at a physician workforce summit showing that Hawai‘i is at least 600 physicians short of the number who should be practicing here, based on the state’s population. The shortage could double or triple by 2020. Aggravating that situation, 25 percent of Hawai‘i’s current working physicians are at or near retirement age.

During the White Coat Ceremony on Friday, the members of the incoming class formally receive the shorter-length white coats which identify them as medical students. They will also be led in a recitation of the physician’s creed, the Hippocratic Oath.

The following are some quick facts about the Class of 2014:

The 64 students are an elite group, selected from more than 1,600 people who applied to JABSOM this year.

90 percent of the incoming class are Hawai‘i residents.

85 percent of the class attended high school in Hawai‘i.

Five are from the Big Island and one is from Kaua‘i, two rural islands where the need for new physicians is greatest.

Women make up 52 percent of the class.

The students range in age from 21 to 31, with 24 the average age.

Eighteen of this year’s students received degrees from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, two attended UH-Hilo, and the others hold degrees from institutions that include Yale University, Columbia University, Boston University and the University of California at Berkeley.

In addition to holding bachelor’s degrees in science or the arts, the incoming medical students include young men and women who earned advanced degrees in business, education, electrical engineering, pharmacy and public health.

The White Coat Ceremony for incoming medical students is annually sponsored by the Friends of the Medical School.